HMV Canada opens its first new mall location since going broke

Fort McMurray, Alberta now has a place to buy Neil Young CDs

When was the last time anyone got excited about a chain record store in this country?

Perhaps recognizing that it has been a while, HMV has trumpeted a new location in Fort McMurray, Alta., which opened at the Peter Pond Mall on Wednesday — 25 years after the company arrived in Canada.

Granted, the chain has continued to downplay physical music sales — in favour of DVD box sets, T-shirts and every other type of popular culture knick-knack — ever since its entire Canadian operation was sold to U.K. restructuring firm Hilco for $3.23-million in June 2011.

A similar deal was struck earlier this year for its British and Irish locations after the 92-year-old HMV declared bankruptcy following the previous holiday season. But the operations are now separate on different sides of the pond.

Since the sale of the Canadian stores two years ago, the number of locations in this nation has been reduced from 121 to 112, which suggests that its retail presence has generally remained intact.

The success of a location in Grande Prairie, Alta. was cited in a factor in the decision to expand to the oil rush boomtown, which is an eight-hour drive away.

As noted in a report from Fort McMurray Today, the only place to buy CDs and DVDs in the city before HMV opened was Walmart, whose selection was described as “horrible” by a New Brunswick native drawn to employment in the area.

“My boyfriend is a big movie fanatic so we usually order movies online,” enthused an employee from another store in the Peter Pond Mall, “but now we can get them here.”

HMV’s announcement also noted that the chain will open a half-dozen pop-up stores for the coming holiday season — a reflection of a move away from signing long-term leases.

The giant flagship store on Robson Street in Vancouver, whose 35,000 square feet were handed over to Victoria’s Secret last year, has recently been replaced by a much smaller space across the street.